Soccer friendlies are nothing new in Boise. In 2015, 22,000 fans watched Athletic Bilbao edge out Club Tijuana 2-0 during Boise's Jaialdi celebration, and last year, the U.S. National Arena team played Brazil in CenturyLink Arena.

"It was really popular and sold out. We wanted to do it again, and we wanted to get more teams involved," said Brian McCormack, director of media relations for the Idaho Steelheads, which plays at CenturyLink Arena. "The fact that it's a tournament setup makes it more fun for everybody involved."

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CenturyLink

This year, the event returns on a larger scale to the downtown sports arena. Four teams—the U.S., Colombia, Mexico and Somalia—will play for honor and glory on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 17 and 18.

On Friday, Colombia and Mexico will kick off the tournament at 5:30 p.m. Afterward, at 7:30 p.m., Somalia and the U.S. will spar. On Saturday, the losers of Friday the Friday matches will play at 5 p.m., and the winners will play at 7 p.m. McCormack said the event should turn heads in Boise and around the world.

"It's a showcase for the city. We expect there's a trophy we'll hand out, and we hope it's something to do again in the future," he said.